Play Favorites in Your Workout Routine

YOUR DAILY FIT TIP

Any strength-training regimen has benefits, but if you’re looking for a little extra oomph in your workout routine, try strengthening only one arm or leg at a time.

For example, if you’re focusing on your legs, skip the leg press machine for a day and do some leg lifts or lunges on one leg, and then switch to the other side. If you’re working your biceps, take a break from barbell curls and do hammer curls with one arm at a time.

While you’re only working one side of your body, the other side has time to rest. So when you’re done with your right side, you can move directly to the left side without stopping to let your body recover in between sets. Your heart will continue to pump hard throughout your workout, upping the cardio benefit and increasing your total calorie burn.

Just remember that working out this way takes twice as long because you have to spend time on each side. You probably won’t have time to isolate each side individually for every exercise you perform, but try to aim for at least one or two exercises per session done in this way.